in the Fish Gallery of the Indian Museum. 53 



Family XXII. Malacanthidce [Case 46]. 



This little family contains but one genus and three 

 species, one of which has been found off Ceylon. 

 Another species belongs to the West-Indian fauna. 



Family XXIII. BatrachidcB [Case 46]. 



A small family represented in Indian Seas by two 

 species of Batrachus. They are of no great size and 

 have a broad thick head and a compressed tail, some- 

 thing like the Trachinida^ which family they also 

 resemble in habit. The ventral fins are peculiar in 

 consisting each of a spine and only two soft rays. The 

 other species of Batrachus extend from the Atlantic 

 coasts of America, through Indian and Pacific waters to 

 the Pacific coasts of Central America, one species occurr- 

 ing in the Mediterranean. 



Family XXIV. Tediculati [Case 46]. 



The "Frog-Fishes" or " Fishing-Frogs " are charac- 

 terized (1) by their enormous head ; (2) by the curious 

 modification of the spines of the dorsal fin, which are 

 commonly transformed into tentacles ; (3) by the elonga- 

 tion, to form a sort of " arm,'"' of the bones on which the 

 pectoral fins are supported; (4) by the small size of the 

 gill-opening and the reduced number of gills. This 

 reduction of the breathing organs is, in all probability, a 

 consequence of the inactive life of the " Fishing-frogs," 

 which either lie in wait for their prey on the bottom of 

 the sea, or — as in the case of several species of Anten- 

 narius — adhere to drift sea-weed. 



The Indian genera of this remarkable family may be 

 reviewed in detail. 



Genus 1. Antennarim. The species of this genus are 

 pelagic and are often remarkably coloured to harmonize 



